Featured Image Credit: CNN / Erik S. Lesser/Liaison
Topics: True Crime, Crime, US News
Britt Jones
Warning: This article contains distressing information about the sexual assault and murder of a child
The father of JonBenét Ramsey claims that police 'still haven't tested' important evidence 27 years after the death of his daughter.
JonBenét was the youngest child of John and Patsy Ramsey, as well as a child beauty queen. The 6-year-old was found dead in 26 December, 1996, after the family had celebrated Christmas in their home in Colorado.
At the time, her mother reported her missing to the police as soon as they realised, but she was nowhere to be found.
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After a mass search of the property was conducted, the little girl was found by her father in their basement after 1pm when the police asked him to check the house again, as per The Independent.
Patsy also told authorities that she'd found a handwritten ransom note on the stairs demanding $118,000 - which was also the amount John had received in a bonus.
It was later revealed by an autopsy in 1997 that she had been sexually assaulted, beaten and strangled with a garrote, an torture device used to wind around someone’s neck.
Police discovered DNA belonging to an unknown man on the garrote - which John Ramsey has claimed in a new TV show still hasn't been tested by police.
He told Ana Garcia, the host of True Crime News, on an episode from yesterday (9 September): “I don't know why they didn't test it in the beginning.
“To my knowledge it still hasn’t been tested. If they're testing it and just not telling me, that’s great, but I have no reason to believe that.”
Regarding John's claims, E! News reached out to the Boulder Police Department but were told that the police could not comment on it due to the case being an active and ongoing investigation.
In a 2023 update on the investigation, City of Boulder revealed that they had 'convened a panel of outside experts (Colorado Cold Case Review Team) to review the JonBenet Ramsey homicide investigation' in order to 'determine if updated technologies and/or forensic testing might produce new intelligence or leads to solve the case'.
They continued to say that 'the case file consists of nearly 2,500 pieces of evidence and roughly 40,000 reports, with more than one million pages documenting the investigation', adding that 'a fresh inventory of all collected evidence was made available for investigative review'.
According to the update, Boulder Police Department (BPD) and the Boulder District Attorney were 'reviewing and prioritizing the team’s recommendations', which they said would not be made public at the time.
"DNA testing continues to be an investigative focal point. DNA testing was previously completed, but the science behind DNA testing continues to rapidly evolve. The Boulder Police Department is working with leading DNA experts from across the county to ensure the latest forensic techniques are used to analyze remaining DNA samples." they said.
"The evidence has been preserved and will continue to be ready for testing when there is proven and validated technology that can accurately test forensic samples consistent with the evidence available in this case. Detectives are actively taking steps to prepare the evidence for testing when possible."
Tyla has contacted the Boulder Police Department for further comment.